


Breathe With Me

by LuckyNumberMe



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Affection, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares, Other, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 17:29:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19155688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckyNumberMe/pseuds/LuckyNumberMe
Summary: You wake up next to a beautiful stranger and realize he's having a nightmare. Should you wake him up?(Gender Neutral apprentice)Part 2 of the "Give that Boi Affection Campaign"





	Breathe With Me

**Author's Note:**

> I'mma be honest with y'all. This one's a lil self-indulgent. I have PTSD & never been with the kind of person who knows how to respond to it. So here's a fic about 2 awkward sweeties comforting each other 🐻💛

You wake to the sound of paws scratching. It's still dark, it has to be well before dawn. Your sleep-grogged brain slips around, trying to recall where you are, why your neck hurts. You look up to see an empty fireplace and things start slotting into place. 

 

The events of yesterday filter into your mind. Asra retching horribly into a pail. You wandering a new part of the woods, shocked at its familiarity. A tall person, a friendly wolf, the sound of hail on thatch. 

 

Shuffling your position, you feel a hard line of warmth hovering just behind you. Carefully, you turn around.

 

You let out an involuntary gasp.  _ He's. He's. He must be the most beautiful person you have ever seen. _ Inky hair skimming copper cheeks. Dark, thick brows, and lips so sweet you think for a second he may be an illusion or a ghost. You know you've never seen him before, but he feels so familiar. And the way you're leaning on him seems…intimate.

 

As you're taking him in, his brows rake together--eyes squeezed and breath ragged and heavy. At first you think he's responding to you, but after waving a hand in front of him, it's clear he is not conscious. You can't quite tell in the dark, but you think you feel him shaking.

 

_ Is he okay? Why is he writh _ \--you know these symptoms. From his sweat-slicked skin, it's probably a bad nightmare too. _ Do you wake him up? You don't know him. Will he be mad you're even here? How would you wake him up without scaring him more? What if he doesn't like being touched? _ Steeling yourself, you make a decision. Mimicking Asra's usual antidote to your nightmares, you gently place a hand on the big man's arm, thumbing it gently. You murmur a small consciousness spell, hoping that this isn't a breach, that he'll understand.

 

"Hey. Hey. It's time to wake up. Come on dear, it's time for you to wake up" 

 

The spell must have worked because he starts awake, sitting up fast enough to knock over a small satchel off the chair behind you. Its contents filling the air with sweet musk.  _ It smells like home, like the deep woods, like a forgotten god. Why do you know this smell? _ The man's breaths still come in gasps when he turns to face you, eyes wild in fear.  _ Muriel. Muriel! Gentle, grouchy, persistent Muriel. How could you forget him?  _

 

"It's okay, Muriel. You're safe here." You give him space to collect himself before slowly placing your hands on the broadness of his arms and gripping them gently. Now he's shaking with a vengeance and you take a breath. You've done this a thousand times before at the clinic. Settling into your nursing persona, you focus only on him. Before anything else, he needs to steady his breathing

 

"Everything's good, Muriel, I just need you to follow my breaths, okay?" He resists at first, sitting stock still for a moment before he nods. You breathe slowly, holding it and releasing it even slower. After a few attempts, his breaths start getting longer, steadier. 

 

You are no stranger to these nights. Even though your nightmares are more manageable these days, you can't remember the last time you slept through a whole night. As his breathing evens to match yours, he whispers your name like a sigh of relief. Your heart nearly melts from the softness of it. It takes all your resolve not to throw your arms around his neck right then. Instead your face spreads into a relieved smile.

 

"Hey. It's me." His lifts your hand from his arm and towards his face, stopping a number of inches away before realizing what he's doing. He freezes, your hand in his, midair between you. You slowly finish the move to his face, fingertips brushing hair off his forehead. When your fingers land softly on his cheek, he looks at you completely mystified. 

 

You go to move your hand away, but he covers it with his own before you can move. His eyes are fixed on a knot in the wooden floor, and his cheeks are hot under your hand. You're suddenly aware of how fragile and precious this moment is. Everything feels so tender. He feels vulnerable. Taking a deep breath, you once again decide to test boundaries. In this moment, it feels terrifying and exhilarating and … right. Before you can say anything, his voice rises,

 

"Do you want to move to the bed?" his head nodding in the direction of a platform covered in furs. Now it's your turn to burst into redness and look everywhere but him. He shuffles uncertainly, beginning to move his hand from you.  "You don't have--" 

 

"Yes. Yes I would… like that." This time he doesn't hesitate. Lifting your back and legs, he stands. His hands are hot and rough on your thighs, sending shivers of pleasure down your spine. Before he sets you down, he pauses. Voice thick with an indiscernible feeling, steady green eyes meet yours. 

 

"Thank you. For helping." Unable to stop yourself this time, you plant a kiss on the closest part of him, his shoulder. 

 

"Anytime, dear heart." 

 

When your eyes meet his, the look of utter vulnerability in them takes you by surprise. His hand spread on your back grows tight against your skin. Your hands twine into soft hair at the back of his neck. He tilts his head down to you. Everything about Muriel feels tender and sacred and alive.  

 

"Muri, may I… may I kiss you?"

 

In response he lowers hot chapped lips onto yours. 

 

When your tongue slips past his lips, you feel his groan on your mouth. The tension of the previous moment melts into passion as your lips become desperate against his. He meets your fervor as his hands slide over your back, pulling you even tighter against him.  When his lips find your neck, you moan so loudly you almost miss the rumble of his own throat. You pull away from each other, both breathing heavily with necks aching.

 

To his surprise, you start giggling at the silliness of the situation.  "Let's at least sit down". He lowers you to the bed and lies beside you. A flicker of the former uncertainty between you returns. Each of you wondering if the other is real, if this is real, if you can kiss them again. 

 

Gently lifting your leg over his waist and settling on his torso, your words come out thickly, "Is this okay?"  He nods. You lean down to his face, fingertips stroking his rough lines of scar tissue. You stop a few inches away from his face. Eyes again too nervous to meet his, you ask "Is this okay?" 

 

In response, a strong hand stretches across the back of your neck, pulling you down. Your lips part and let him in once again. You think maybe you've never really kissed anyone until this moment. There is nothing like this: the reaching, the touching, the slide of lip against lip. Enveloped by the feeling of his body beneath you, you get carried away in the moment kissing his neck, his shoulders, any of him you can find in the dark. He chuckles as you continue to pepper his neck and shoulders with a thousand tiny kisses, and soon you're laughing with him. You lean onto his chest, feeling the pound of his heart. His arms snake around you pulling your bodies flush against one another. He hums contentedly, and squeezes you just a bit tighter. Like this, you drift off to sleep in arms that feel so much like home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading y'all! As usual I'm on Tumblr @asluckywouldhaveit where I post witchcraft, the arcana, and such stuffs.
> 
> If you liked it, leave a comment, kudos, share with a pal. All of these things are beautiful. 
> 
> Stay excellent, loves


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